WWE News: Creative Discussions For The Conclusion To Cesaro Vs Sheamus Angle & Where It Will Lead

WWE superstars Cesaro and Sheamus were both drafted to the flagship show, Monday Night RAW, two months ago at a time when both seemed to be floundering in the mid-card malaise that so many had succumbed to prior to the brand extension. The split was designed to create more opportunities, and while that continues to be the goal for RAW and SmackDown, it’s also exposed a lack of depth on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Shane McMahon’s return to the WWE brought with it the promise of not only new opportunity, but fresh match-ups as well. Shane, of course, is exercising that decree as the commissioner of the blue brand, but his message was clearly a company-wide initiative delivered by the spokesman for the new era.

Just this week alone, we’ve witnessed two matches the WWE billed as “first-time ever” bouts. On Monday, Seth Rollins went one-on-one with Rusev, and the following night saw John Cena square off with Dean Ambrose. Cesaro and Sheamus certainly wouldn’t fall under that category, as theirs is one of many rivalries that has been done to death. But by making this iteration a best of seven series of singles matches, it’s added a new layer of significance for the Swiss Superman and the Celtic Warrior.

What’s more, the WWE website designed a detailed graphic of the best of seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus, illustrating who won what match, the manner in which they won, the location and duration of each match, and how the series stood at the time.

As you see and recall, the series began on the SummerSlam kickoff show with Sheamus taking the 1-0 lead back in August. In fact, Sheamus won the first three matches to take a commanding lead. However, Cesaro battled through injuries to even things up as the series will conclude in the seventh and final match this Sunday at Clash of Champions.

Wrestling the same superstar seven times (six of which were on television) over the course of two months would be considered overkill had it not been for the stipulation involved. What Cesaro and Sheamus may not have been afforded from a promo perspective, they’ve been able to make up for in the ring.

The winner of the Cesaro-Sheamus feud will receive a championship opportunity, but as Ringside News points out, which title has not been specified. The plan from the beginning of the rivalry was for Cesaro to go over, but that did waver on multiple occasions since it began. It appears now that the fallout from the series has only three possible outcomes.

Sheamus has the longer odds of winning on Sunday, and even if a babyface Seth Rollins defeats Kevin Owens to become the new WWE Universal Champion on Sunday, it’s unlikely that Sheamus would enter a program with Rollins right away, completely bypassing Owens. The other option for Sheamus is that Roman Reigns beats Rusev to become the new United States Champion and Sheamus challenges Reigns immediately. The idea of another Reigns and Sheamus program, however, wouldn’t be as appealing.

If Cesaro wins, which remains the plan as of now, he could present an interesting challenge to either heel titleholder coming out of Clash of Champions, Owens or Rusev. The one who makes more sense would be Rusev, especially considering some creative plans being discussed backstage.

Since the brand split, we’ve seen only one full defection. Jack Swagger was drafted to RAW, but just recently got reassigned to SmackDown, where it appears he’ll engage in a feud with Baron Corbin. Meanwhile, a lot of buzz (both in storyline and behind the scenes) has been centered around Cesaro and The Miz potentially switching brands in some type of trade.

Daniel Bryan has continually stressed that having the Intercontinental Championship is important to his brand and not necessarily the current titleholder, The Miz. Even though they both agreed to a renegotiated contract, the opportunity to acquire Cesaro (should he eventually win the U.S. Title) might be the facilitator necessary to move The Miz to Monday nights and just simply switch the mid-card belts. We’ll learn a lot more about the direction they’re heading after the Cesaro-Sheamus and Roman Reigns-Rusev matches have concluded at Clash of Champions.

[Featured Image by WWE]